Make You Mine This Season

Four

"You're kidding me, right?" Nathan stared at his little sister behind the wheel of his car as she drove them downtown. "You've been stalking our neighbor?"

Emily rolled her eyes at her older brother, not daring to take her eyes off the road. It was early afternoon, but the sky was threatening snow, gray and full of moisture. They'd both decided a joy ride was required, regardless of the forecast, giving their mom a little alone time. The days between Christmas and New Year's were weighing on their mother heavily.

The car ride had the added benefit of giving Em a chance to keep her driving skills up since she didn't have her own car and rarely went anywhere anymore. "I'm not stalking her," she argued with her brother, checking her hands were still at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel. "I took Ox for a walk and ran into her is all."

Nathan, one hand resting on the door and the other on his knee, shook his head from the passenger seat. "You took Ox for a walk so you could run into her, you mean," he corrected.

Emily couldn't hide her smirk. "Dogs need walks, you know. It's in the handbook."

Nathan rubbed his temple with one hand but his indulgent smile at her non-answer was obvious. "You're a creep, you know that?"

"What makes me a creep? I think she's interesting is all," Emily argued defensively, indicating that she planned to start heading the car back to their house. "Here's this stranger who lives all alone, except for her pets, and she's just randomly secret-santa-ing our whole neighborhood! Four years in a row!" She paused and glanced quickly at her brother before going back to her careful driving. "You're telling me no part of you wonders why?"

And no, Nathan couldn't exactly say that. In fact, he'd found himself wondering more and more why. But... "Not enough to stalk her," he quipped.

Emily huffed as she turned back on to the highway heading back home. "She's really sweet."

Nathan bit his lip and looked out the window, watching their town go by in the gray afternoon. "So, you talked to her," he pried. It bothered him a bit, his little sister striking up a conversation with a stranger. But he tamped it down. She was eighteen. And she was really smart. She had generally always been able to take care of herself. Though he tried to prevent her from needing to as much as possible.

"Just a little. She's our neighbor," Emily shrugged nonchalantly, her grin widening.

Nathan sighed, giving up. "Right."

"She's pretty, too. Looks way younger than her age," Emily added under breath.

"She told you her age? Because that's not weird at all."

Emily laughed. "No, dummy. I looked it up."

Nathan glared at his sister. "So, you internet stalked her and then you stalked her in real life."

"How is it stalking when it's just like, out there? I literally looked up her address and BAM, there's her name and age... and marital status... and known relatives..."

"Not funny," Nathan grumbled. "You sound obsessed."

Emily pursed her lips but said nothing for quite a few seconds. Then, matter-of-factly, she stated, "Maybe I am."

Nathan continued to stare at his little sister. "That's weird, Em."

Emily took a deep breath and glanced at her big brother quickly before she turned left onto the street the subject they were discussing lived down. "I just think it's amazing, ok? What she did. Does. Every year. And there's so much crap happening in the world right now. It's nice to think about this one person doing these nice things. Just because." They were passing the woman's house when Emily got quiet, and as they turned onto their street she added. "It makes me feel better, ok?"